After cardiac surgery, it remains a problem as to how to monitor the cardiovascular situation of operated patients. An accumulation of fluid or clot in the intra-pericardial space surrounding the heart may result in a pressure increase in this intra-pericardial space, indicating the occurrence of cardiac tamponade, which constitutes one of the possible complications following cardiac surgery. “Tamponade” means obstruction of blood flow due to a constriction of a blood channel caused by an outside force, in this case the overpressure acting on the heart wall. In this condition, blood is prevented from entering the heart from the veins due to increased pressure in the intra-pericardial space, resulting in a lowering of blood pressure and tachycardia, which if left untreated may result in cardiac death. It is known that cardiac tamponade may occur due to local accumulation of fluid or clot, for example due to bleeding from the pericardial wound bed into the intra-pericardial space, or due to mediastinal bleeding and effusion occurring around the pericardium, any of which being a possible consequence of surgery or trauma. Accumulation of fluid or clot inside a body compartment may be generically indicated as a “compartment syndrome”.
Patent document US2005/0283092 discloses a compartment pressure-monitoring device for continuous monitoring of pressure in a localized compartment, with the pericardium presented as an example. The proposed compartment pressure monitoring device comprises a tube (catheter) connected at one end to a pressurizable balloon and a Trocar sleeve for insertion into the compartment, and connected at the other end to a pressure gauge. An alarm device is provided for indicating that the pressure inside the compartment as registered by the inserted tube and balloon exceeds a predetermined pressure, indicating an occurrence of compartment syndrome.
Unfortunately, the device in US2005/0283092 does not enable assessment of cardiac tamponade occurrence probability under various conditions.